Perilla Seeds & Perilla Oil
들깨 · 들기름deul-kkae · deul-gi-reum
Korea's other sesame
Perilla (deulkkae) is a plant in the mint family whose leaves and seeds are both central to Korean food. The seeds are toasted and pressed into deulgireum (perilla oil) or ground into deulkkae-garu, a creamy, nutty powder.
- Korean name
- 들깨 · 들기름 (deul-kkae · deul-gi-reum)
- What it is
- Korea's other sesame
- Storage
- Refrigerate perilla oil after opening and use it within a few months.
- Substitute
- Toasted sesame oil replaces perilla oil, with a different flavor.
- Recipes
- Used in 49 recipes on coo K food
Flavor
Perilla seeds taste earthier and grassier than sesame, with a faint mint-anise note. The ground powder thickens soups into something creamy and rich without any dairy.
Perilla oil
Perilla oil is one of the richest plant sources of the omega-3 fat alpha-linolenic acid. It is delicate and oxidizes quickly, so it is used for gentle stir-frying — especially of rehydrated dried greens such as radish greens and bracken — for stir-fried kimchi, and drizzled over buckwheat noodles in deulgireum-makguksu.
Perilla seed powder
The powder is stirred into seaweed soup, hand-torn noodle soup (sujebi), pork bone soup and braised vegetables such as sweet potato stems and taro stems. Look for skinless (geopjil beotgin) powder for the smoothest texture.
🧊 How to store it
Refrigerate perilla oil after opening and use it within a few months. Keep the powder airtight in the freezer.
🔄 Substitutes
Toasted sesame oil replaces perilla oil, with a different flavor. For the powder, use ground toasted sesame seeds or a spoonful of tahini; ground cashews give a similar creaminess.
🛒 Where to buy
Look for it at Korean or pan-Asian grocery stores such as H Mart, or order it online — it keeps well, so it is easy to stock up.
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